Casio is to continue to cultivate its difference

In the year 1995, Silver-gelatin photography is at its peak. The very name of digital photo does evokes virtually nothing. The agency Magnum photographers still use Leica M6, ignoring that this is one of the last films of the German mark "M". Nikon is poised to get its F5, without thinking that it is the penultimate in the series "F", characteristic of the yellow and black mark since the 1960s. In 1995, at the Photokina in Cologne, Hasselblad and Fuji are market their innovations, little aware of the tidal wave arrives and will force them to review thoroughly, the sound provides, another his activity of films and photographic papers.

QV - 10, the first digital

It is in the midst of this silver torpor that Casio loose his bomb. It has the form of a good strange object, like a camera: devoid of purpose, he is dressed a bi-corps rectangular plastic shell. Sold out of the strange, a small LCD screen occupies the rear part of the apparatus. QV-10, premier digital camera, yet will trigger a revolution, as rarely industry known as. The aircraft landed with a novel concept. It is able store 96 shots in his memory of 2 MB, and then transfer them to a computer. Technological innovation makes him forgive many shortcomings of youth. Fickle with his memory, the device offers, with 250,000 pixels, a mediocre image quality. In addition, Electronics does not know manage high lights. That is important, finally consumers recognize the feat, and buy the first year best 200,000 of the small device, which will be then declined in several improved versions.

As often, the QV-10 was born of a simple idea in a sprawling group. Casio was created in the aftermath of the war and has gained his reputation with the Yubiwa pipe, a porte-cigarettes to quit without getting dirty fingers. Soon, the Group slide toward electronics and compact calculator. There mark Casio watches G-Shock, musical instruments and, of course, on calculators. Like many Japanese groups, Casio does not escape the vertical integration and manufactures a large part of its electronic components. It produces including screens LCD in color for a mini-téléviseurs. If they work for the TV images, why could they not help the photographer visualize its image at the time of view and of course, then verify that the quality QV-10 was born.

Non-silver print photo, Casio is yet not to the test run. In 1987, il already proposed a device capable to save the images to floppy disks. With a huge benefit: able to view images on a television screen. The product is quickly overtaken by video cameras to record digital for professional uses. Regardless of the failure, Casio has developed a foot in the photo and no more will come out.

The bet of compactness

If it can boast of having strongly pushed a universe dominated by majors, Casio has not really capitalized on its innovation, neither able to withstand the blows of battering from competitors such as Canon or Nikon, joined later by Sony and Panasonic (Lumix). At present, the Japanese manufacturer claims 15 of the domestic market and a share of 5 at the global level. He opted for a different approach from that of other brands. While race is pixels at the beginning of the 2000s, is Casio rage compactness bet exiting, in 2002, a device about the size of a credit card. More recently, the industrial proposed enclosures with rates ranging from 40 to 60 pictures taken. Its latest innovation, a compact capable of taking video and another function, with significantly more gadget, which allows scaling of images on a same photo. It is is not on the segment of reflex, yet more profitable, but which requires an association with an optician. Casio is to continue to cultivate its difference. "To be able to play with a camera", it says in the company. When a camera which would at the same time console games At Casio, the idea is taken seriously.